Word: cynic
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...extraordinary 1994 commencement address at Harvard, he spoke of the "barriers in my soul" that had prevented him from making connections with others. "I suppose it was a form of cynicism on my part," he said. "The brokenness that separates the cynic from others is the outward sign of an inner division between the head and the heart. There is something icily and unnaturally intellectual about the cynic. This isolation of intellect from feelings and emotions is the essence of his condition...
That team came one heartbreaking Cornell goal away from sneaking, in spite of itself, into the NCAA Tournament. Memories of that team kindle hope in even this cynic's heart for a similar run to glory this season--and as this year's voyage for regular-season honors foundered in the face of teams with superior reserves of both talent and luck, it is understandable why this team might have begun to think the same way. Even with tonight's additional hurdle still to be overcome...
Whitman writes that for the man of faith, "no greater honor exists than for a man to die for his convictions." Several paragraphs later he sums up the nature of the cynic, who, without the aid of faith, is "reduced to a mere animal groping after the desires of the flesh." What we have here is animality versus spirituality. Whitman's reductionism is unfair to both faith and cynicism...
...early Cynics were real characters, no doubt about it. Advocates of the doggy life, the Cynics were a breed of mad philosophers, terrorizing Greek antiquity with their rough-edged wisdom. Diogenes, probably the most famous Cynic, is well known for his outlandish behavior and his adoration of the "natural life." When a helpful Alexander asked the doggy sage what he could do to aid him, Diogenes replied, "Get out of my light...
Perhaps more surprising is that scholars have located Cynicism of this variety in the Gospels. Early Christian missionaries have many affinities with the wandering Cynic, as well, and the "doggy" life is not as far off from the life of Christ-like poverty as one might think...